Forgiveness and Love

Glen Pettigrove

A significant contribution to our understanding of forgiveness

Accessible to a wider readership, as well as philosophers, theologians, and psychologists

Forgiveness and Love

Glen Pettigrove

Description

What is forgiveness? When is it appropriate? How is it encouraged or inhibited? Answering these questions one way rather than another can alter our lives and our relationships in dramatic ways. If we think that forgiveness is or involves a passion that we experience but over which we have little control, then we will respond to it differently than if we think forgiving is something we choose to do or refrain from doing. If we think forgiveness involves restoring a relationship, then we will treat it differently than if we think it merely a matter of managing our emotions. If we think forgiveness is something that must be earned or deserved then we will not even consider forgiving certain agents; whereas if we think it is something that can be freely given, then forgiving these agents may become a live option. Glen Pettigrove explores the nature and norms of forgiveness, drawing attention to important dimensions that have been neglected by other discussions of the topic. He highlights the significance of character, both of the forgiver and of the forgiven, for common perspectives on what forgiveness is and when it is appropriate. Pettigrove explores the relationship between forgiving, understanding, and loving. And he revives a virtue that has too long been neglected: namely, grace.

Forgiveness and Love

Glen Pettigrove

Author Information

Glen Pettigrove is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland. He is the author of a number of articles in moral and political philosophy, and his work has appeared in leading journals including the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, and Religious Studies.

Forgiveness and Love

Glen Pettigrove

Reviews and Awards

"Pettigrove's is a fine, lucid, carefully-argued book. It exhibits care not only for precision in thought and expression, but also for human well-being: the book is passionate, in an understated way, about the transformative good that forgiving, properly understood, can effect. This means that it is not only those concerned to understand forgiveness who will benefit from reading it, but also those concerned to forgive well, to themselves be good forgivers."--Paul Griffiths, Philosophy

"It is undeniably the case that Pettigrove advances a new view of forgiveness.... [The book] is informative and helpful; the goals of this book are largely accomplished, and the logical progression of the arguments in each chapter is absolutely crystalline.... How I wish I had this book when I struggled in my own work to articulate what's wrong with types of annoying wrongdoings over time.... [T]he final four chapters ... constitute such a great addition to the philosophical literature on forgiveness that I am preoccupied with my gratitude for their contribution."--Kathryn Norlock, Ethics

"Pettigrove's Forgiveness and Love is a reliable and nuanced book on conceptual issues surrounding forgiveness. It persuasively undermines a surprising number of the commonplaces that philosophers appeal to in their accounts of forgiveness.... Other attractive features of Pettigrove's fine little book are nice discussions of love and the virtue of grace (a kind of generosity of spirit), and their relations to forgiveness. His defense of the morality of forgiveness in cases where the offender is unrepentant, and his care to distinguish his own position from the advocacy of 'unconditional forgiveness,' are completely persuasive."--Robert Roberts, Journal of Moral Philosophy

"Overall, there is a good deal to find useful and enjoy in this compact book." -- The Philosophical Quarterly

"Forgiveness and Love...will reward the reader who sticks with the systematic analyses. The book is a good example of how philosophy can help clarify useful options to empirical researchers, particularly those interested in moral psychology." -- Metapsychology Online Reviews